The environmental and other governmental measures adopted by several countries against the use of tetraethyllead in motor-fuel led the petroleum industry to seek other additives, including oxygen-containing additives, for improving the octane number of motor-fuel. Among these additives, asymmetric ethers, and more particularly methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), have proved to be very efficient gasoline additives. The most common method for the preparation of MTBE comprises the reaction of isobutene with methanol.
Isobutene is also used as starting material for the production of other valuable compounds, such as t-butyl alcohol (used as solvent), t-butyl phenol (used as stabilizer), low molecular weight polymers (used to improve the viscosity index of lubricating oils), etc. As a result of this increased interest in isobutenes, the present availability of isobutene does not allow the production of sufficient amounts of these derivatives to satisfy their potential market.
Accordingly, it can be seen that presently there is a need for a process to simply and economically produce isobutene, and particularly, a process that can utilize starting materials which are readily available.